A few tips and notes to myself – Why I should write more about my work and what I wish I knew before I started [thread] ✍️

Someone asked me recently about breaking into the video game industry as a writer / narrative designer. There's so, so much good advice out there that I only tend to hit this topic on rare occasion. But it's been a while, so let's go!

(Why my answer is worth anything: I've been doing this for about fifteen years and I've hired a lot of writers and editors. Why my answer isn't worth anything: My view of the industry is fairly narrow and I haven't tried to break in for a while, so I'm arguably out of date.)

First: Write, write well, and write video games. Published non-games material is great, but at this point there's no reason not to put together a Twine game or similar to add to your portfolio. Show you're interested in the medium.

If you're applying to a job that requires a writing test (most companies serious about narrative will require one), do what the test says. Follow instructions. Show you can deliver what your client is asking for. Do it well.

If you're submitting other samples, make them diverse in style / tone / character voice--show range. If you want to be artsy and experimental, you can INCLUDE that but it shouldn't be the focus. I want to know someone can tell a straightforward story adeptly. Basics first!

LARPing Our Way To Armageddon

The intense and present danger of fantasy

a thread

One of the interesting things about the scifi / fantasy writing community is that it contains many people who have much higher tolerance for fantasy than the norm.

People who can be around fantasy a lot, without losing track of reality.

Counter intuitive perhaps. But people who deal with fantasy at a professional level become expert at recognising its stench.

That's a useful skill in 2021, when the world, and particularly America, is being sucked into a vortex of unreality.

Because human beings do not, as a rule, have good tools for distinguishing fantasy from reality.

This isn't a bug of humankind, it's very much a feature.

Humans are what we are because of our ability to engage in the shared fantasy we call society / culture / civilisation.

Homo Sapiens are the species that LARPs

Which has always brought with it some structural issues

That just got waaaaaaaaaaay more serious

[THREAD]: Here are 10 (painful) lessons I've learned writing 3,000+ articles on the internet over the past 7 years.

On writing advice, growth hacks, going viral, and feeling fulfilled in the process 👇

1/ There is only 1 secret to online writing.

Volume wins.

There isn't a writing platform on the internet where this ISN'T the case. Social platforms. Major publications. Every growth period of my writing career happened during months/years of consistent volume.

Period.

2/ Growth hacks are overrated.

In my early 20s, I spent a LOT of time reading digital marketing blogs about how to get 50% more views here, or 20% more subscribers there.

A lot of it is mental masturbation.

You're far better off just consistently creating new content.

3/ Writing that engages/goes viral is emotional.

You don't have to "air your dirty laundry," but you do have to say something that makes the person on the other side of the screen pause, *feel you*, and engage.

This can be done through story, tone, before/after photos, etc.

4/ You don't go viral by getting lucky.

You go viral by publishing day after day, week after week, year after year.

My Quora dashboard is a great example. Out of 1,200+ Answers, less than 100 have gone viral.

That's not luck. That's rolling the dice 1,200+ times.

𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔
𝑁𝑎𝑘𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑎 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑

Most of the fairy tales are ancient folklores & it's hard to trace back to it's original creators. Still I wanted to see which nakshatra natives has contributed to this field.
* all charts calculated using cosmic insight app & lahiri ayanamsa

Jacob Grimm

Purva Asadha ☀️
Chitra 🌙
Magha ketu

Wilhelm Grimm

Shatabhisa ☀️
Purva Asadha 🌙
Pushya ketu

These German scholars are perhaps the most famous fairy tale collectors of all time. This collection was actually done as a part of their academic work.

Many popular tales reached a wider audience through their collection, including:

⭐Little Red Riding Hood
⭐Hansel and Gretel
⭐Snow White
⭐Sleeping Beauty
⭐The Frog Prince
⭐Rapunzel